PrintFebruary 26, 2008
Five More Thoughts About Obamamania
1. If Hillary Clinton is going to be effective against Obama, she needs to find a new voice. Currently, she is trying to do for oscillation what Bill did for triangulation. She first found her voice in New Hampshire, and then turned it over to Bill in South Carolina. Then she found it again after Wisconsin, saying she was honored to share the stage with Obama. Then she followed up by (a) accusing him of using Karl Rove tactics, (b) shouting "Shame on you, Barak Obama" and (c) dripping with sarcasm about his feel-good speeches.
She needs a consistent new voice that will make people smile. My suggestion: before every speech, inhale some helium.
2. The Democrats are about to nominate a man who has no experience, has had an undistinguished term of service in the Senate, invariably votes the liberal line on every issue, and thinks he is the change his wife has been waiting for (or something like that). His minister is a guy who honored Louis Farrakhan, and Farrakhan himself has virtually endorsed Obama. Perhaps Hillary is on to something: Obama may in fact be a creation of Karl Rove.
3. Obama's wife thinks we all need a new soul. According to her, "Barack Obama is the only person in this race who understands that [there is a hole in our souls], that before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation." When Mike Huckabee started talking like this, Democrats thought the separation of church and state was about to fall. There is in fact a good issue for Hillary here: someone is plagiarizing the ridiculous "politics of meaning." Unfortunately, Hillary is the one candidate who can't raise this issue.
4. If, as Michelle Obama asserts, we can't "work on the problems" before we "fix our souls," it may be a long time before the Obama administration can start to work on the problems. The change we can believe in may not come until the second term, at the earliest. Re-education camps might help, but their efficacy is even more problematic than vouchers.
5. Earlier this month, Obama voted in favor of an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence surveillance Act (FISA), seeking to repeal retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated in intercepting international communications relating to terrorism. Obama criticized the telecommunications companies who cooperated as "special interests." In unrelated news, there has been no attack on America in the six-and-a-half years since September 11.
Publius Valerius Publicola is a friend of the people who wishes to remain anonymous so he can continue to work within the system.
